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JUNE 22, 1899. THE MARINE RECORD. IJ _. AS showing the increase in the size of lake vessels, we _ hote that in 1870 the arrivals at Chicago aggregated 12,739 vessels having a tonnage of 3,049,265. In 1898 there were only 9,428 arrivals, but the tonnage amounted to 7,557,215. Just about the same difference is also found in the clear- ances. The total arrival and clearances at Chicago in 1898 were 18,990 vessels of 15,243,663 tons. These figures exceeded _ the foreign trade of New York, also came very close to that of i the port of London. The total tonnage entered and cleared in ¢ the foreign trade at New York is placed at 14,670,446 tons, and for London at 16,365,906 tons, It is but correct to state, however, that the Chicago total is inclusive of all tonnage, coastwise and foreign, while the New York and London figures are strictly for the foreign trade, and two months of the year we have computed for, of course, there is also the close of navigation at Chicago during the winter months to be taken into consideration, during which time the arrivals fall away down to as low as 61 for the month as opposed to nearly 1,500 as the maximum during the briskest portion of the summer. These few brief figures are suggestive, and in a measure instructive, though, as a clincher, we may add _ that the Chicago arrivals and clearances during the year ; ended June 30, 1898, exceeded the combined figures for Bos- ' ton, Philadelphia, New Orleans and San Francisco, and _ nearly equaled the aggregate, if the 5,770 vessels entered and cleared at Baltimore, Md., which is the next port to New York, were included in the commerce of the above men- tioned four seaports. — OO oO ow If IS HIGH time that all bridges swung on center abut- _ ments should be done away with at lake ports. To keepa single one, blocking the narrow channels of an otherwise congested waterway, argues a lack of engineering ability and ' adequate talent. to devise means of abolishing a grievous _ obstruction to local commerce. Permanent structures from 00 to 300 feet in length and 30 to 4o feet in width, placed at short distances in navigable waterways, would not be permitted by a community composed of imbeciles, yet, the several municipalities of large lake ports have permitted these unsightly and dangerous commerce destroyers to be built, repaired and rebuilt year after-year. Let us imagine, asa parallel case, a number, say from ten to forty large steamers, sunk in the center line of the river and at regular intervals of space at Buffalo, Cleveland or Chicago. How long would these vessels be permitted to impede and obstruct traffic? We venture to say that all the assistance the locality provided would be brought to bear to bring about _ their speedy and complete remoyal, yet this is exactly the condition that the center abutments for swinging bridges - means to the traffic of the lake ports. a> re _ The Holland submarine boat is to have her final test by the Government within a few days, for the purpose of decid- ing definitely whether the strange craft shall or shall not be adopted by the Navy Department for use in warfare. Re- presentatives of the company owning the Holland boat have notified Secretary Long that they are ready at any time now for the test, and the Secretary of the Navy has signified his intention to set a date for the trial, which will be held at Peconic Bay, Long Island It will bea different test from any of those yet undergone by the submarine boat, and will determine practically her value as a destroyer. The chief claim of the inventor has always been that the boat could approach an enemy’s ship unseen and destroy it. In all tests heretofore the Holland has contented itself with a dummy torpedo, but in Peconic Bay a real Whitehead torpedo will be-fired at a target, and on the ability of the boat to hit the mark and destroy it will rest her chance of becoming one of - Uncle Sam’s vessels. ————— oe oe owxXn A NOTICE has been sent out by Hon. James A. Dumont, Supervising Inspector-General of Steamboats, Washington, -D. C., addressed to collectors and other chief officers of customs, and inspectors of steam vessels, relative to the summer travel on passenger and excursion steamers. A alous effort is called for on the part of these officers to see that no excess of passengers are carried, also that officers ust be detailed to watch the Sunday traffic, and the whole orce is to be so employed on July 4th. Besides printing the circular letter in this issue of the RECORD, we have thought it prudent to thus call special attention to the re- sent order, so that owners, general and passenger agents, as ve las other officers of the steamboat lines, may safeguard O. P. AUSTIN, Chief of the Bureau of Statistics, has vis- ited the principal cities of the lakes, including Cleveland, Detroit, Buffalo, Duluth, Chicago, etc., for the purpose of arranging the preliminaries of an elaborate investigation into the trade and commerce of the northwest. ‘To assist him in this work Mr. Austin has engaged Prof. Walter E. Woyd, a specialist in transportation matters, who will be- gin his work at once. The inquiry already made has de- veloped the fact that while statistics of lake commerce and transportation generally, are inexactly abundant, it is desir- ble that the system of collecting this data be improved. ee lf appears that the report of the Commissioner of Naviga- tion for the Treasury Department fiscal year ending June 30, 1899, will show a growth unprecedented in the history of shipbuilding in this country. It is not known whether the Commissioner has given out this special information in ad- vance, or if his statistics have been anticipated, in any case, this portion of the annual report to the Secretary of the Treasury has been printed as stated. We are still guessing how many 99-100 of a ton has been discarded in the new system of measuring vessels, and what effect such a depart- ure will have on earefully (?) computed totals. or or THE battleship Wisconsin is within thirty per cent. of be- ing completed, the Illinois within thirty-five per cent., while the Ohio has only five per cent. of credit to her construc- tion. We mention this percentage of construction to call the attention of the States of Illinois and Wisconsin to the fact that a service of plate, special bunting, library, etc., is the usual presentation to a yaval vessel from the State which she has the honor of being named after. Ohio has still lots of time to consider the most choice and appropriate subject of presentation. Whatever Ohio determines upon, Commodore Perry’s watchword should be prominently in evidence, ‘‘ Never give up’the ship.”’ Ee ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS. A thoroughly equipped scientific expedition is about to start for the frozen north. Dr. Robert Stein, of the United States Geodetic Survey, with two well-known scientists, will embark from Sydney, N. S., on July 20 for an extended exploration of the west coast of Ellesmere land. They will go in the Hope, one of the ships with the Peary expe- dition. The Hope will take supplies to Peary at Bowdoin Bay. She will return in September. Dr. Stein’s party will be left at Cape Sabine. The scientists who are going with Dr. Stein are a taxidermist from Boston and a physicist and naturalist from Cornell University. They have supplies for two years, and do not expect to return until September, 1900. Collections will be made in natural history, the geological features will be studied, meteorological observa- tions will be taken, dredgings will be made if possible in the surrounding seas and Esquimaux remains investigated and collected. Collections will also be made in botany, which has never been attempted before. OOOO POWER CANAL AT THE ‘‘SOO.”’ The Lake Carriers’ Association has recently applied to the War Department for a certified copy of the report prepared by Col. Lydecker and a special board designated for the purpose of investigating the feasibility of the projected wa- ter power canal at Sault Ste. Marie. The Department has caused a copy of the report to be made, together with draw- ings, blue-prints,’etc., and forwarded to the Association. From the preparations being made by the Lake Carriers’ Association it is assumed at the War Department that the whole question will be re-opened within a few weeks, and possibly be made the subject of a series of departmental hearings. —— i ore THE American Steel & Wire Co. will have its own fleet of steamers to carry ore from its mines to the furnaces, and from the close relations of the new steamship company with the Great Northern road it is thought the ships will later on be a link in a transportation system reaching to Japan. The new transportation concern with a fleet of nine of the largest steamers on the lakes has been organized with a capital of $2,500,000. John W. Gates, vice president of the steel and wire combine, has assumed the presidency of the branch company, and the name of the American Steamship Co. has been tentatively adopted. President James J. Hill, of the Great Northern Road, W. K. Vanderbilt and John D. Rockefeller are interested, LAKE FREIGHTS. The feature of the past week has been the raise of 5 cents per ton on bituminous coal to Lakes Superior and Michigan, as indicated in our report of last week, viz. 40 cents and 50 cents, A block of 40,000 tons from Cleveland to the head of Lake Superior has been placed at 40 cents and that is considered the going rate on single cargoes with shippers offering 35 cents all the time and finding a lack of tonnage. The Portage rate is firm at 4o cents. Rates on anthracite from Buffalo have been firm all along at the following figures, with present indications for a raise, Duluth, 4o cents ; Milwaukee, 50 cents; Chicago, 50 cents; Gladstone, 40 cents; Lake Linden, 40 cents; Bay City, 35 cents; Green Bay, 50 cents; Portage, 4o cents; Sault, 4o cents ; St. Clair, 30 cents. Iron ore freights haye been fairly active but the 70 cent Escanaba rate has in many cases been shaded to 65 cents, or so made to appear, still vessels keep changing ports from Chicago to Escanaba and they report getting 70 cents on ore, at the same time the 65 cent figure is being nominally stuck to by shippers. Every effort is being made to get the ore sent forward, never has Lake Superior shipped such quantities, 100,000 tons a day or 3,000,000 tons for this month is the estimate now and that exceeds former ship- ments in June by about 750,000 tons. The best possible dispatch is given to vessels at both loading and discharging ports, so that the rush can be said to be immense, If the com- bination of industries tend this way, then vessel owners can stand some more of it, and ignore any future possible changes. Although $1 on ore has been predicted, it is rather early to speculate on future developments, yet, from the present outlook, improved freight rates for the latter portion of the season seem to be assured. Grain rates are firm and tonnage in good demand at 2° cents on corn from Chicago to Buffalo, and waiting an — Escanaba raise on ore to advance. Lake Ontario 3% cents, a fall of % cent, the Milwaukee rate is the same as Chicago. The Duluth rate is nominal and shippers in different at 234 cents for occasional charters. Aer MARINE LETTERS ADVERTISED AT DETROIT, MICH., POST OFFICE, JUNE 21, 1899. Ames, D. F., sch. J. M. - Hutchinson. Bladdie, Fred. Brennan, Peter. Browe, Herbert N. Connelly, John A. Cannon, John. Colfgly, James. Creelman, Capt. B. C. Currie, Hugh. Depew, Harry. Dulack, Louis. Fraser, Hurby. Farman, Edson. Gulett, Henry. Gainford, Wm. Garvey, John, str. T. Wilson. Grant, P., str. Samoa. Grondin, Frank. Hall, Geo. H. Hasty, Wm. E., str. America. Harrington, Fred. N. Hyem, Alfred, str. Muvamba. Johnston, W. B.,:sch. Eddy. Larkin, Joseph, Lavely, John H. Lohr, Frank, sch. Armenia. od Lapanse, Louise. _ Moore, Wm., str. Vailima. Morin, Fred. Mack, Bert. Morgan, Chas. J. ' Minn, Thos., str. Bessemer, McNeil, Neil. . McDonald, Geo. McNamara, M. Pipher, Annie. Picor, Geo. Potter, Chas., str. Linn. Ryan, Stephen, brg. Monitor. Rolison, John, str. T. Wilson. Roberts, Harry P. Rankin, H. M. Roberts, Jerome. Richings, Chas. Smitzler, B. L. Sanscrainte, P. L. Tamhafe, Wm., str: Sevona, Williamson, Andrew. Wells, B. S. Walker, John O. Ynaves, John, str. Presque Isle. ie THE Paris (American Line) has been abandoned by her late owners. Underwriters have engaged a foreign salyage company to get what they can of her, and they are now dynamiting the rocks that she is resting on. If she is ever floated she can’t be turned over to the owners again no matter what repairs or rebuild she may undergo. So far as the American Line is concerned the Paris isdefunct. Ex- penses towards releasing, estimated value of damaged hull, equipment, etc., made her a constructive total loss before abandoment by her late owners. This is the only way to make an honest, clean and straightforward constructive total loss, On owners abandonment the loss should be com- plete and total, unlike the ordinary lake practice. ee MARINE insurance is probably the oldest form of pru- dential association. Its institution has been traced to the Emperor Claudius Caesar, who, at a time of corn famine in Rome, encouraged the merchants to send away ships for supplies by guaranteeing to make good the value of vessel in the event of wreck or capture.